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Accessible computing
Computers and the internet have opened a new window on the world for many of us, making it much easier to stay in touch with people, make new connections, shop, carry out research.
There are various ways that you can adapt your computer, if you find
it less than responsive to your needs. Here is a general view of the solutions
available. Please send us an email if you are
looking for anything in particular that you can't find here - or if you
come across something particularly useful that you think we should include.
Click to read more on each topic:
Work comfortably
See your screen and keyboard more clearly
Text-to-Speech
Mouse and keyboard
Other input devices
Speech-to-Text
Suppliers of accessible computing products and services:
Forcetenco
Height Adjustable Desks
Inclusion - OT consultancy
Mercado Medic ergonomic seating
Rainbow Mobility chairs
Work comfortably
A
height adjustable desk with a scoop cut out at the front provides a comfortable
work station for a range of people, including wheelchair users. The height
is adjusted using a touch pad, and the range is great enough to allow
you to work standing up - which can be very helpful for anyone who has
back problems.
A well-designed ergonomic chair will help minimise the problems of remaining seated in front of a computer screen for extended periods.
See your screen and keyboard more clearly
Your computer is already equipped with various ways of improving visibility. For example, you can define a larger size of text for websites, by going into the Preferences section of your internet browser. There are instructions for customising various different browsers and other computer programs run on PCs, on the Ability Net website www.abilitynet.org.uk. Computers using Apple's OS X operating system have a built-in screen magnifier to increase the size of text, graphics, mouse cursor, etc by up to 16 times.
The
built-in zoom feature in many programs will let you increase the size
of the text, but if this is not enough, there are software packages that
will magnify the screen image many times, and also allow you to force
colour changes in programs that won't normally let you do so.
Some of this software also includes an option to have the content of your screen read aloud to you.
Text-to-Speech
There are also a number of shareware and freeware computer programs that will read any area of text selected with your mouse or keyboard, such as ReadPlease, which you can download free at www.readplease.com Unfortunately, this software only runs on PCs, not Macs. On the other hand, the latest version of the Mac OS X operating system comes ready equipped with text-to-speech functionality.
For users with no useful vision, a full screen-reader is probably the only way to benefit fully from the features of many software programs, such as internet browsers and business suites. These can be expensive, so you need to do some research before you commit, to make sure that you are comfortable with the product you choose.
Mouse and keyboard
Those slim elegant letters on your computer keyboard can be seriously tricky to decipher. Solutions range from the low-tech (stick-on letters several times bigger and bolder than the originals) to replacement keyboards, which may offer bigger characters; better colour contrast; bigger keys for the less dextrous; rainbow colour arrangements; ABC layout, as opposed to the conventional qwerty system.
Keyboards
are also available in a range of ergonomic designs to make their use more
comfortable and convenient. The model on the left is in sections so that
they can be arranged in the position and order that suits you best.
On the right, a radically designed ergonomic keyboard for right-handed use (also available in left-handed version).
Anyone
who finds a traditional mouse hard to use has a range of alternatives
to choose from. There are various ergonomic designs, to take the strain
out of clicking and pointing, or where dexterity is limited, a trackball
like the one on the left is sturdy enough to be jabbed at with hand, elbow
or even foot.
You may well find that your computer is already equipped with ways of making your existing mouse and keyboard easier to use. For example, the numeric keypad on a Mac can be converted into a 'mouse', if you aren't able to use a normal mouse; and keystrokes can be 'slowed down' so that if you lack fine motor control and find that you accidentally press keys on your way to the one you're aiming for, the effect is ignored. You can find out more in the Accessibility section of the Apple website.
Other input devices
Some
of the options available apart from mouse/keyboard for interacting with
your computer include switches (left). These are available in various
shapes and sizes; colour coded for easier recognition; heavy duty; with
pressure adjustment; or sensitive to the lightest possible pressure.
If
you wish to bypass keyboard and mouse/trackball altogether, a touch screen
is another option (right). Touch technology is now mainstream, since
it has been proven in handheld devices such as Apple's iPod, and increasing
numbers of laptop and tablet computers are being produced with touch
input. In fact, any screen can be modified so that the computer can be
controlled by using a finger or pointer on the screen.
For
users with little or no limb use, it is possible to use a single pointer,
controlled by head movements (left), to direct a trackball input device.
Data can be input using the on-screen keyboard. And one of the latest
developments in computer interfaces is the iris control, which uses eye
movements and blinks to move the on-screen mouse.
Speech-to-text, or speech recognition
Automatic
speech recognition (asr) is the technology that enables people to communicate
with computers in what is, for many of us, the most natural and convenient
way: by talking.
Programs like MacSpeech Dictate and ViaVoice enable you not only to dictate text to your computer's word-processing and other programs, but also to control the mouse, cursor, internet browser, etc, using voice commands. The software available has improved greatly in terms of accuracy and the speed with which it learns to recognise your commands since the early versions.
